Andy Middleton
banner
andymiddleton.bsky.social
Andy Middleton
@andymiddleton.bsky.social
Climate, biodiversity and systems connector. Helping progressive leaders to calibrate shared ambition against the scale of challenge coming their way. Live in Wales. Radical collaborator & mischief maker.
Plastic Unfantastic

Pollution from this illegitimate child of the fossil fuel industry looks like it's reducing photosynthesis by 12%.

Nothing to see here. Move on.

www.theguardian.com/environment/....
Microplastics hinder plant photosynthesis, study finds, threatening millions with starvation
Researchers say problem could increase number of people at risk of starvation by 400m in next two decades
www.theguardian.com
March 10, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus

Happy St.Davids day to friends and fellow citizens of this fragile world. David was born on the coast near the tiny jewel of a city that bears his name, his last words were 'do the little things you remember me by. Good advice.
March 1, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, assured his support to Zelenskyy, saying: “We must never confuse the aggressor and the victim in this terrible war.” (Guardian)
March 1, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
📣 New guide! Climate Outreach, with support from @green-alliance.org.uk conducted interviews with leading experts, from policy to journalism, campaigns to research, to get their insight on the most important comms challenges & opportunities for 2025 and beyond:

climateoutreach.org/reports/what...
What is the climate story in 2025? - Climate Outreach
This short report consolidates our findings from 20 interviews with diverse leading experts from policy to journalism, campaigns to research who shared their thoughts. Thank you to our partners Green ...
climateoutreach.org
February 11, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
Welcome to #EduSky 🍎 a communuty for educators!

Check out the list: tinyurl.com/EduSky
Join the list: tinyurl.com/EduSkyForm
Pin the feed: tinyurl.com/EduSkyFeed

⬇️
November 20, 2024 at 1:32 PM
The Gift of Uncertainty //

What are the skills, mindsets and connections we need to help young people to grow so they can build regenerative futures at a time of greater uncertainty than the world has seen for 75 years?

Do share your top three here.

#EduSky #climate #nature
February 16, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Exporting Extinction //

Seek to understand the footprints and negative externalities of the products and services that you take for granted. Many of them are likely to have a dark side impact that's not on the label.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
February 16, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
H5N1 Bird Flu Spreads Rapidly Through California Dairy Herds

The USDA has confirmed that five more dairy herds in California are infected, bringing the total number to 732.

As of now, 74% of the state's dairy herds have tested positive for the virus.
January 29, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Regulation isn't fit for purpose.

I spent six years on the board of an environmental regulator. It's clear that even if every business adhered to every pice of legislation, nature and communities would die, just more slowly. We need regs that inescapably drive regeneration, not elimination.
January 29, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
My friend/colleague Andrew Boswell is right. Starmer is adopting the very worst HardRight trope:
It’s outrageous of Starmer to say that Andrew is doing this for himself! He doesn’t do all this dangerous, exhausting, expensive work for selfish reasons!! He does it for Nature & our children’s future.

"It's quite pathetic of Keir Starmer to think that he will put off the environmental movement .." by attacking campaigners after he attacks me in Daily Mail

I talk to @samcoatessky.bsky.social

See full clip here x.com/SkyPoliticsH...
January 24, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Let's hope CAN can.

Today the UK government will hear the second reading of the Climate & Nature Bill. It's landmark proposal places legal responsibility on government to act in line with science, not easy votes. Fingers crossed for nature. & future gen. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
The Climate and Nature Bill 2024-25
The Climate and Nature Bill 2024-25 will have its second reading on 24 January 2025. This Library briefing provides an overview of the bill and background information.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
January 24, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
You can say, “gravity isn’t real,” but if you step off the cliff, you’re still going down.

And if you convince other people it’s not real, you are responsible for what happens if they make decisions based on the information you withheld.
The White House climate page is now gone. Climate change is not. www.whitehouse.gov/climate
www.whitehouse.gov
January 21, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Topical Word of the Day...
Word of day is ‘unasinous’ (17th century): united in stupidity.

A riff on ‘unanimous’: which comes from the Latin for ‘one mind’. ‘Unasinous’ means ‘one ass’.
January 22, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Going the wrong way fast. Time to turn around.
January 21, 2025 at 4:48 PM
"perhaps spending potentially trillions to get somewhere that looks like Earth’s most boring disused quarry is the value proposition that Americans concerned over inflated food prices have been looking for" Marina Hyde hit nail on head in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
So this is Trump’s ‘golden age’ – chaos, dysfunction and a coalition of creeps | Marina Hyde
Confusing and capricious, he started as he means to go on. To all the leaders pledging to work with him: good luck with that, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2025 at 4:47 PM
PFAS News - Not News //

Those with eyes open have known for years that there's an insidious tide of damaging chemicals seeping into the bodies of life on earth. Companies like 3M make them, profit from them, and walk away. Change is coming. Better late than never.
Environment | The Guardian
Latest Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
On CBC last night, I spelt out the moral case to keep on trying, however hard it might be. Defending the living planet is not an option we can abandon. Ultimately, it is all that counts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX2V...
Author George Monbiot on countering despair amid alarming climate change trends
YouTube video by CBC British Columbia
www.youtube.com
January 14, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
“I feel liberated,” said a top banker. “We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled . . . it’s a new dawn.”

Business in the age of Trump. Sounds liberating.

www.ft.com/content/cf87...
Is corporate America going Maga?
Donald Trump’s election has accelerated a cultural shift in the nation’s boardrooms
www.ft.com
January 14, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Faster = better.

When it comes to action on climate, and reducing negative impacts, that is.
January 13, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Adapt or Die //

Doing less of the wrong thing isn't going to be enough as our safe ground shrinks around us. Useful provocation and call to action from @rupertread.bsky.social to make adaptation part of the conversation in every organisation, every day.

www.terrainfirma.co.uk/adapt-or-die...
Adapt or die: why decarbonisation is no longer enough to save us with Rupert Read - Terra Infirma
This post goes live as wildfires ravage Los Angeles, parts of the UK are clearing up after floods and we’re all still traumatised by the images of the deadly flash floods in Valencia. The trends look ...
www.terrainfirma.co.uk
January 13, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Safety always has, and always will, depends on species' ability respond to pattern change.

Homo saps is bottom of the class on that. How well we manage to stick around depends on our ability to change that...
2024 was the warmest year on record with an average global temperature 1.6°C above pre-industrial level.

It's the first year to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial level, with every month but one since July 23 surpassing this threshold.
Full Global Climate Highlights 2024: https://bit.ly/40kQpcz
January 10, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
Earth has entered ‘a new era’ with its hottest year on record and its first calendar year 1.5C warmer than the pre-industrial period.

About 1.3C of the 1.5C is due to climate change, so let's not get *too* hung-up on puzzles like clouds, shipping fuels etc!

Story👇
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
January 10, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
It's hard to imagine a more brutal illustration of climate injustice and a failed society than indentured teenage slaves being used to protect the homes of wealthy Americans.
These teenagers and young men — 95% of whom are Black, Latinx, or Filipino — earn between $2.20 and $4 per hour, plus an additional $1 an hour when they’re actively fighting fires, according to the DJJ. ⤵️
In California, Incarcerated Teenagers Help Fight Wildfires
"You’re put in danger every time you’re on the fire line.”
www.teenvogue.com
January 9, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Andy Middleton
"...it is time for #climate activists and thought-leaders to let go of fantasies of achieving decarbonisation, directly. Instead, we need to pivot hard towards climate adaptation."

New in the @bylinetimes.bluesky.social 📰

bylinetimes.com/2025/01/08/z...
2025 Is the Year Extinction Rebellion Demanded We Should Go Zero Carbon but 'Britain Has Woefully Failed'
The Government is 'absolutely not going to save us... 2025 needs to be the year we start to save ourselves'
bylinetimes.com
January 8, 2025 at 2:35 PM